Deputy Defence Minister Abdul Latiff Ahmad has asked all quarters, including the media, to cease the speculation linking a Royal Malaysia Air Force (RMAF) senior officer to the disappearance of the two RMAF F-5E jet engines.

He said the conclusion announced yesterday by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) clearly showed that there was no evidence at all to link the officer to the case.

"The PAC statement can rectify the negative perception of all quarters, including the media," he said after sending off the core group of the Malaysian contingent, Malcon East 5 (ME 5), bound for Lebanon at the Subang RMAF Base, near Kuala Lumpur today.

Yesterday, PAC chairman Azmi Khalid said there was no proof to link any high-ranking RMAF official to the theft of the engines.

Abdul Latiff said that following the decision of the PAC, no more officers of the ministry and RMAF would be called up, and that the ministry and RMAF had given their full cooperation to the PAC.

"The case has been handed over to the courts, so let them decide," he said.

Abdul Latiff said that following the disappearance of the engines, believed to be due to a weak security system, the ministry had taken measures to beef up security.

He said the move included enhancing the armed forces' administration from a manual system to a computerised system.

The two F-5E jet engines, reported missing since 2007, were found to have been sold abroad.

Following that, an RMAF sergeant and a businessman, who is a company director, were charged in the Petaling Jaya Sessions Court with the theft of the two engines.

- Bernama